in a meaningless world, a girl finds heaven in scarlet mist
previous: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=MahiruFAQQ: What the hell are you doing?I still don’t know broQ: You’re a liar, you meanie :(. You said this would be up in September?Yup, I’m a lazy sack of shit. Sorry. Excuses are for bitches. Ignore the fact that I am a little bitchQ: What is this thing?This is a multiplayer Madoka quest, where some gucas made magical girls and are fucking around in a world of my design. We currently have three players, including our resident autist Clover, aristocratic abomination Hermione, and normal girl Lorene.Q: How do I play if I’m not one of those three girls?Unfortunately, I’m a hack and I’m still uncertain on if I can maintain narrative integrity while adding in more gucas. I still want this whole story to have a beginning and an end, after all. However, I have two things for readers. Firstly, you all get to vote in the upcoming interlude! Yay! Secondly, if a new magical girl is created as a result of the players’ actions (probably Hermione), that girl will be piloted by popular vote. Hopefully reading along is passable enough regardless.Q: Who even is the girl who hates the cold?Gotta vote for her to find out. (She’s the Witch they murdered)Anyway, enough fucking around, let’s get this show on the road.
IntermissionIn the deep abyss of dreams, an old TV flickers on.“…It’s been a while, hm?”A blonde girl stares through the screen from the other side, hand on her chin as she smiles.“For those of you who are new here, welcome! For our dear returners, welcome back! I’m your host, Cia. As promised last time, we managed to reserve the opening slot!”A stock clip of polite clapping plays.“Thank you, thank you very much! I’m so glad to see you’re all excited!”She snaps her fingers, and brief clips of four different girls play on the screen.“We have a marvelous selection of interludes for you to choose from tonight, a glimpse into the past of one of these four magical girls! We take audience polling very seriously, so your top pick will be our star opener, before we dive back into the main story!”The clapping stops. The girl’s eyes become serious.“Now, before we get started, I have to give you fair warning. We’re no longer in the first act of this little play. Things are only going to get darker from here. …You could die, depending on your decisions. That girl won’t pull any punches. But…”The girl puts up a peace sign, sticking out her tongue playfully.“Before that whole mess begins, let’s lighten up the mood with a (somewhat) heartwarming story! Though it might depend on who you pick, haha… Why don’t you take a look at your options?”The girl spreads her arms wide, gesturing to the images behind her with a grin.>Clover Beets>Hermione Rockefeller>Lorene Lovelace>The girl who hates the cold
>>6324435>The girl who hates the cold
>>6324436damn bro what the fuck you appeared instantly
Wow, is it September already…?
>>6324430>PIC VERY RELATED!HOWLy shit OP I was just beginning to lose hope and I'm so so happy to be proven wrong! So glad you're back :)>The girl who hates the cold
>>6324461nah it's still august>>6324475that's my area of expertise, making people lose hope :Palright i'll wait like an hour more or something then just roll
>>6324521Dude we both voted for cold girl
>>6324533Roll as in lets get the show rolling. not 1d2
>>6324533yeah i know x) hermione is right, i meant post the first post.
Sorry gals I'm a little special needs my bad
>The girl who hates the cold"Ehhhhhh? You guys wanted to hear more about her?" The girl bursts out laughing. "How interesting! Me personally, I'd have just let bygones be bygones, since her story's gonna end in tragedy anyway, but if that's what you all want!"She holds up a hand, about to snap once more, then pauses."Right, one last thing. We may not be able to interact with the past as much as Madoka could, but you guys can still nudge her along! A lot of things may be set in stone, but maybe you could make her a little happier before the end?"The girl's eyes grow a little colder."Not that it matters too much. After all, she's just another one of those idiots who wasted her wish on nothing."The girl snaps. The curtain falls.
“…Hey. Why are you crying?”A girl sniffles, coated in a light dusting of snow, as winter clouds block the sky in an overcoat of grey. “…No one wants to play with me.”“Huh. Me too! We should stick together!”The girl looks up, a little shocked, and sees another girl smiling at her, tears in her eyes just like her own. That day, a friendship was formed underneath the frozen branches of a snow-laden tree.~~~“Bleeeeh, I’m so dead!!”“Haha come on, Alice, it wasn’t that bad.”It's autumn. The leaves are turning orange, the heat of the summer is beginning to fade, and the school year has begun once more. With it, old friends are reunited, new friends are made, and the ever-present tides of change come to the fore, as children enter a new year of their lives. The panicking girl pouts. “No, it was! It really was! He’s gonna make me present all over again! Why did I even think it was a good idea to try to put in a joke???”Her friend giggles. “Well, I thought it was funny.”“That’s not fair! That’s because you know me!!” The girl crosses her arms with a huff. “I can’t show my face in that class ever again.”The end of the school day was Alice’s favorite part of the day. Of course, the fact that school was finally over played a large part in that, but by far what she enjoyed the most about it was that she got to walk home with her best friend. Classmates and acquaintances had come and gone over the years, but Sophie and her had been best friends forever.…Though, there could be a disruption to that comfortable schedule soon.
“Hey, Sophie?”“Hmm?” The brown-haired girl looks back at her with a smile.“…Are you really going to join the art club?”“Yeah! I think so?”Alice kicks a pebble along the road. “What’s so cool about art anyway? Isn’t it just a bunch of random paint splashes? You can just take pictures of stuff nowadays, anyway.”Sophie’s eyes sparkle as she whirls around to grab her hands excitedly. “That’s the thing! It can seem like random colors and lines, but there’s so many layers to it! Sure, some abstract art is meaningless garbage, but other pieces can have so much artistry in each brushstroke! And that’s just abstract art! Portraits and realistic pieces might seem like they’re just trying to mimic the real world, but there’s so much nuance in how they frame the subject, the lighting, and-!”The words all start to blur together in her mind as her friend goes on a passionate speech, but she was happy for her. She was supposed to be happy for her. Sophie had found something she cared this much about. It was good news, great news. She just had the unsettling feeling that this was the beginning of the end for something precious.“-right???”“Huh?” Alice blinked, then let out a nervous laugh. “Haha yeah…”“Anyway, the first meeting is going to be next Monday, and I’m pretty excited. I wonder if there are other people who see it like I do?” Sophie lets go of her hands, and they resume walking back toward their neighborhood, the art-lover humming all the way.“…Hey Sophie?”“Yeah?”“Does the art club have meetings every day after school?”“I think so! Sometimes there are weekend trips to the museum too!”“Ah.” Alice looks down at her feet for a moment, before putting on a jokey grin and throwing an arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Hey, who am I gonna walk home with, then? You’d really leave your best friend all alone?”“Hmm, you bring up a good point…” Sophie puts a hand to her chin. “Why don’t you just join the art club too, then? We can walk home together after the meetings like usual!”Alice blinks. She didn’t really care about art, but that was a possibility. If she were to join, they could keep up their same routine?>Join the art club.>Don’t.
>>6324552>Join the art club.
>>6324552>join
>>6324545don't worry about it, we're all special needs herealso i'm still not a graphic designer, shit looks so ugly and i should use more formatting, FUCK
>Join the art club.The bell rings. Classes are over.Alice drags her feet as she shuffles slowly to the clubroom. It really wasn’t that bad, she told herself. Sitting around for an hour was basically nothing. Sometimes she got to chat with Sophie, too.When she arrives, her friend is already there, surrounded by a circle of her newest buddies.“Whoa, how did you do the colors on that painting, Sophie?!”“The sunset looks so vibrant!”“The shading looks so natural, and frames the subject perfectly!”“Haha, thanks everyone… I just really had this image in my head I wanted to get down, so I took my canvas home yesterday and worked on it all night…” Sophie sheepishly scratches her head, nearly overwhelmed with praise. When she notices a certain girl entering the room, she perks up and waves at her. “Hey, Alice!!!”Alice gives a half-hearted wave in reply. “Hi, Sophie.”The art-lover is quickly swept back up into another conversation, and Alice simply makes her way to the back of the clubroom quietly, sitting by her usual corner easel. Eventually, after agonizing minutes of trying to tune out the excited chatter next to her, the art teacher makes it into the room. The other club members finally quiet down.“Sorry I’m late, everyone! I was busy getting together some examples of impressionist landscapes, like Lily requested. I was thinking we could do our usual discussion and analysis of these pieces to start the meeting off, then try to do some rough sketches of our own in the last fifteen minutes!”The lights are dimmed, and the first piece is projected onto the wall. The teacher begins to give some background history on the artwork. Alice yawns and leans back against the warm window, staring up at the ceiling blankly.At first, she tried, she really did. She tried to force herself to like art. She tried to force herself to see all the random intricacies and details her clubmates pointed out, tried to appreciate them as much as they did. But, eventually, she found out it was pointless. The vase of daisies was just a vase of daisies. The flowers being wobbly meant nothing to her.The teacher stopped calling on her for comments after the fifth time she said she didn’t know.
“…Alright, that’s it for today! I’ll see you all tomorrow!”When the hour mercifully comes to an end, Alice stands and stretches, grabbing her bag before looking for her friend. Sophie was on the other side of the room, looking at another girl’s canvas, giving hushed yet excited comments.Alice glances to the side, politely waiting a moment, but Sophie was still going. She eventually sighs, and starts to head over to her. “Hey, Sophie, you ready to-?”“Sophie!! Lily!! Do you want to grab some food with us?!”Two club members, whom Alice hadn’t bothered to remember the names of, burst into the conversation excitedly. Lily, the girl at the canvas, nods eagerly. Sophie is about to as well, before she seems to remember something. “Sorry, I usually walk home with…” She glances around, before seeing her. “Alice!” Her smile was still genuine. “Do you want to go grab some food quickly before heading back home?”…>Sure!>No, not really.
oh yeah, also, don't feel confined to the presented options!!!!!! you guys can always try to write-in and do what you want, these are just the things alice immediately thinks of doing!
>>6324600>SureFood's food. If it gets annoying and Lily isn't cool either we can dip out early
i'm gonna sleepin tradition with the first thread, if you ever have any questions or problems with anything, just let a brother knowi also reserve the right to write what i wantand yes i'm still a fucking wagie, FUCK-
>>6324600>Sure!
>>6324600>Damn straight bitch can't live on anime and rice alone hahaha shieeeeett
>>6324751>>6324600I'm amending my vote so that we say this specifically
>Say that specifically.The eyes of four people on her, Alice’s brain short-circuits.“D-d-damn straight, b-bitch, can’t live on a-anime and rice alone ahhahahahahaaaaa…?”The four people blink. The girl feels like jumping out of the window and dying. Sophie covers her mouth to hide her giggle, but her shoulders shake from laughter. “W-what even was that, Alice? Say it again, say it again!”“aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA let’s just go eat!!!!”~~~“So then, the teacher had to ask one of the boys to go kill the cockroach!!”“Haha!” Sophie wipes a tear from her eye. “You know, that reminds me of when-!”“Sophieeeee!!! Which art museum do you want to go to this weekend??” One of the other club members interrupts their conversation, hugging said girl tightly.“Oh hey Hannah!! I was thinking we might check out [REDACTED] Metropolitan, I hear they’re reopening their classical gallery to the public!”As Sophie is swept up into the larger group conversation, Alice is left to simply watch from behind. For the briefest of moments, she thinks of reaching out to drag back her best friend, but it’d be kinda weird and rude. And she looks so happy, still. The girl sighs, and just continues to walk, trailing the others from behind.“S-sophie’s so popular now, h-huh?”“Hm?” A little startled, Alice glances to her side. Lily stares at the three girls in front of them longingly. “…I guess?”“I… I’ve gotta be more like her…!” The mousy girl rushes forward to join the conversation over art. Alice just watches, her brain caught in a loop. Sophie… was popular now? That girl, the shy girl who’d been by her side for years, the girl who’d been her only friend for all this time, the girl who’d been crying in the snow because no one wanted to play with her, she was… popular?
It wasn’t much longer until their precious after-school routine was broken, only a month or two after that afternoon with impressionist art. Lily had wanted Sophie’s help with her self-portrait. Sophie apologized profusely the next day, but it was a pattern that kept recurring. Eventually, Alice would be lucky if she had two days to walk home with her friend each week. That hour in art club became more and more miserable with each passing day.It was December. Technically, the anniversary of their friendship was coming up soon. The art club had a winter trip planned, to a cabin by a local lake. They were going to be ice-skating, sketching out landscapes, and huddling by the fireplace with hot cocoa while they watched art documentaries. It seemed like it’d probably be fun.“Whaaat, how come you don’t want to go, Alice?”It was a rare afternoon where she actually got to walk home with Sophie. “I just… don’t really feel like it too much, I guess haha… I don’t really know anyone else in the club that well.”Sophie pouts. “Come onnn, you talk with Lily and Hannah sometimes, right?”Not really.“Ally and Jack are pretty cool too! You’ll have tons of fun hanging out, I’ll make sure of it!”She said they’d be able to keep up their after-school routine, too.“Pleeease, Alice? It just wouldn’t be the same without you there!”So Sophie was going to go, whether she wanted her to or not.>Go on the winter trip.>Don’t.
>>6325040>Go on the winter trip.
>>6325040>Don’t.we aren't having fun already, let's let our friend miss us a bit>“D-d-damn straight, b-bitchlol'd heartily
>>6325040>Don'tHowlmie we're 'The Girl Who Hates The Cold', not 'The Girl Who Goes To A Place Suspiciously Like Where We Kicked Her Witch Ass'
>Don’t.“You sure?”Alice forces a smile. “Yeah.”“You suuure?? We’re gonna bake some cookies too, I know you love sweets!”Her smile is straining at the seams. “I’m fine. You should go without me.”Sophie frowns, staring intently at Alice’s face. After a prolonged moment, she sighs. “Haaah, okay. I’ll be sure to bring a cookie or two back for you, okay?”“That sounds great.”The two of them are silent for the rest of the walk home.~~~December 16th. The day they first became friends.Alice stares down at the ground, sitting underneath a certain tree from years ago. This winter felt colder than usual. Instead of super fluffy snow, most things were just frozen over in slick ice. Probably good for ice skating, she mused.An icy breeze blows through, and the girl shivers. She rubs her hands together, breathing hot air onto them to try to warm them even a little bit, before pulling out her phone. No messages, yet. As expected. Sophie was on her super fun winter trip with her art club friends, after all. The girl puts her phone away.“Haa… haaahh…”The girl brings her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly as she presses her face into her stockings. Winter had never quite felt this biting before.For the first time in a long while, she was spending this day alone.~~~“So then, Jack tried to hit me with a snowball, but he accidentally knocked into a tree, causing all the snow to fall onto him instead!!”Sophie’s laughing as she gushes about the trip. Alice can only focus on the fact that she never got a message.“That last night, watching the horror movie while we were all huddled up around the fire, it really was the best! You really should’ve gone, Alice, we all missed you so much!”If she did, she would’ve sent that message.“Oh, right, I almost forgot!” Sophie reaches into her bag, rummaging around, before pulling out a small bag with two cookies. “Here, like I promised!” She sticks out her tongue. “They might be smushed a little bit, there was this whole thing where someone sat on my bag, but they were made with love, okay!!”Sophie presses it into her hands with a smile. The girl stares down at the small crumpled bag of cookies.>Let her know how you feel.>Smile and thank her.
>>6325099>Let her know how you feel.
>>6325099>Let her know how you feel.Might as well rip the Band-Aid off now
both of these are dangerous>Let her know how you feeland all the bottled up shit will blow up like a cork on champagne. if we don't know what we feel and we can't manage it, then its fucked>Smile and thank her.but if you keep it in then the feelings and insecurities will only get worse over time, and if the relationship dies here then we'll be eaten alive by regret.the ideal would be to explain our feelings /CALMLY/ like Dumbledore in the book, not the movie, but since that may be too hard i offer the following, sensitive alternative:>"Soldier, my main man, am 'the girl who hates the cold', not 'the girl who likes cookies with ass'
>Let her know how you feel.“…I hate you.”Winter clouds block the sky in an overcoat of grey. Sophie blinks. “…Eh?”“I hate you, Sophie!”that day a friendship was formed underneath the frozen branches of a snow-laden tree. “W-what do you-?”Alice throws the cookies to the ground, stomping on them furiously. “I hate you, I hate art, I hate walking home after school every day! Every single day, I have to sit in that fucking art room for a never-ending hour, and every single day, I have to pretend to be happy and wait patiently just so I can get a crumb of my friend’s attention! Why couldn’t you notice? Why couldn’t you see how miserable it was for me, every single fucking second I spent there?”Alice shoves Sophie away.“You promised! You said we’d be able to keep walking home after school like usual! You said you’d always remember that day we met! But no, now you have new friends! Now you have friends who like what you like, and talk about what you like talking about! Everything’s good for Sophie now, right?! She gets her art club, she gets to be popular, and she gets to keep her old best friend hanging around every day for her too!!”The girl laughs hysterically, laughs until her breath fails her.“It’s so perfect! All of it! How lucky, Sophie! You get to live such a perfect fucking life, with everything you could have ever wanted, while I get to be surrounded by people and everything I hate!”Tears streaming down her face, the girl can’t hold it back any longer.“You’re the worst, Sophie. I wish I never became friends with you.”…Snow gently falls, covering the two in a light dust. Alice breathes heavily, her breaths rising like smoke to the winter sky as she stares down at her feet. Eventually, she looks up.“…” Sophie’s lip is trembling. Tears are forming at the corner of her eyes. Her heartfelt cookies were smashed into oblivion. Instantly, the girl wishes she could take back what she said, and instantly, she knew it was far too late.Sophie runs home, crying all the way.
>>6325242>>6325231Yea sorry big dog I don't think that was as calm as you wanted
…It’s cold. It’s really cold.Alice huddles underneath a frozen tree, shivering, curled up into a small ball. Her jacket is coated in a deep layer of frost. She can’t feel her face anymore.“Haa… hahahaaaa…!”The sun is gone. Her phone has thirty missed calls from her mom.What an idiot. What a stupid fucking idiot.Alice shoves her face deeper into her knees. Biting her lip, she can’t hold back from crying any longer. With the cold wind howling around her, it feels as if the tears are freezing right on her face.…/ 人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼: Hello, Alice!The girl continues to sob. The white feline pads a bit closer, before putting its paw on her hand. Startled, the girl jerks back and looks up, tears and snot still smeared across her face./ 人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼: Hello there, Alice Cenhelm!The girl blinks, still shaking from the cold. “W-what- who are you?”The cat tilts its head to the side. / 人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼: My name is Kyubey! I have a request for you!Its red beady eyes seem to stare straight through her own./ 人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼: Make a contract with me and become a magical girl!
~~~Winter eventually came to an end.The girl’s footsteps clack as she walks down the hall. She stops in front of a certain door. For the first time in three months, she’d be stepping into that clubroom once more. She takes a deep breath, before taking the plunge.“S-sophie! Can I talk to you?!”The sounds of paintbrushes scratching at their easels slowly comes to a stop. The entire room turns to look at the girl in the doorway.From her easel in the back, Sophie slowly stands. The girl sitting next to her tries to grab her hand, but Sophie shakes her head with a shaky smile. She looks up at Alice. “S-sure! Let’s talk!”They walk down the hall in silence. Both of them are shaking a little, yet both of them try not to let the other see. Alice leads her to the grassy courtyard outside, where they both stand beneath a large oak tree. Green leaves are beginning to bud once more, as the warm spring sun shines down through its branches.
The girl turns to face her old friend. “I… Sophie, I’m sorry!”She looks down at her feet, clasping her hands tightly. She’s not strong enough to look at her right now.“I-I’m sorry, I really am!” Her voice is shaking. Despite rehearsing it countless times, the words won’t come out right. “I know nothing I say can make up for what I said, but I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I loved being your friend. I loved being able to spend time with you. You’re the only reason why every day at school was so fun for me, through all these years!”Though she tries, she can’t hold back her tears.“I’m sorry for being such a horrible person! You found something you truly, genuinely loved, and I was scared! I didn’t want to lose my only friend! I was selfishly trying to hold onto you, selfishly wanting to keep you all for myself! When I saw how much fun you could have without me, I felt like I was being left behind!”Her hands are trembling. Her voice is cracking.“I was wrong! I was selfish! And, and- I want you to know that you did nothing wrong! So please, forget all those horrible words I said to you! I didn’t mean any of it at all!”The girl pants. That was it, right? That was all she wanted to say? No, no, she was a dumbass, she forgot the cookies, the cookies-! Alice scrambles for her bag, rummaging for the small sachet of cookies while her tears blur her vision.“And- and- I baked some-!”A warm embrace takes her, bringing her out of the cold. “I… I’m sorry too.”Alice blinks, her friend’s arms wrapping tightly around her.“I should’ve noticed how much pain you were going through. I should’ve seen how much you hated the club, should’ve known that you were doing it all just for me.”Sophie’s crying too.“I was a bad friend. I was a really bad friend. I was so caught up in everything that I forgot to message you on the day we met!”Alice whimpers, then begins sobbing anew, hugging her best friend tightly. That spring, the frost that had covered their hearts finally thawed, and the eternal winter had finally come to an end.
When the tears subsided, the two sat down together underneath the tree.Alice giggles, still a little light-headed from the rush of emotions. She holds up a small bag of cookies. “I-I actually baked some cookies for you, Sophie, but now they’re all smushed because of that hug.”Sophie laughs, hugging her friend tightly. “That’s hilarious! I guess it’s payback for what I tried to hand to you in December!”Alice sniffles, crying happy tears while she stares at the crumbled cookies in her hand. “You know, I really am such an idiot…!”…“You know, you really are such an idiot.”A girl pants, blood dripping from her mouth. Countless red strings surround her, hanging her up against the abandoned factory wall.
“What was your wish again? That you could apologize to your friend?”“Fuck you.” The girl spits, red phlegm spattering on the dusty concrete floor.“I suppose it did give you something useful. Being able to send out messages to anyone is pretty decent, as far as magic goes.” The magical girl smiles, swinging her cane around lazily. “As long as you have recipients, that is.”The girl remains silent, trying to squirm against the thin fibers locking her in place.“Still, arranging an in-person meeting? When you know the killer could have been listening too? There weren’t many things you could’ve done that would have been dumber than that.”She already knew she was a dumbass. She didn’t need to be reminded. As long as the other magical girls could be safer, that’s all she cared about.“And, you know what the best part is?” The blonde girl sits on an old crate, resting her chin on her hand. “You actually helped me out quite a bit! I wouldn’t be able to do this if it weren’t for you!”…what. Alice slowly looks up.“I hadn’t realized Kyubey managed to contract two other girls in the city! In fact, after tracking you down, I thought I’d be pretty much done!”No. No no no, she was lying, that couldn’t be right.“So thanks, messenger-girl! You helped me find who I may have to deal with next!”Did she fuck up? Did she really fuck up? Are those girls going to be killed now because of her-?The blonde girl presses onto her soul gem. The girl screams out in pain. “You know, there’s still another way you could help me out! It’s almost comical, how much help you’re giving me!”No. Please no. She couldn’t Witch out. Not here. Not now.The blonde girl grins. “I’ll use you to see just what they’re capable of! After all, it’s best to go into these things prepared!”The girl’s soul gem cracks.---Ѧ The Girl who Hates the Cold, End Ѧ---
...aaaaaand that was the girl who hates the cold! hope you guys enjoyed! intro posts hopefully tonight, maybe tomorrow!damn i still need to use more formatting, huh
Huh. Well that's not good. That was that dork I met in the library, wasn't it...
man i fucking hate the cold
